edivebuddy Posted June 21 Share Posted June 21 ← The results are in. September 2020 Well first dose of keytruda in and I'm still tired all the time. Family is here helping to clean up after the hurricane. I have almost no memory of this. I'm hot then cold. Restless then all I want to do is sleep. Taking the Meds and tea is keeping the nausea away but still afraid to eat especially when I'm not really hungry. Did have an unexpected visitor. One of the things I love about our home is the abundance of wildlife. Dolphins, bears, gators, to a fox squirrel. Birds of prey are regulars but todays was extra special. A migrating Peregrine falcon. He let me take a picture before he flew off. A special rare treat. And considering Saint Peregrine is the patron saint of cancer patients it's even more special. New treatment is carboplatin ,pemetrexed (Avastin) and pembrolizumab (Keytruda) by IV every 3 weeks. We're going to do 4 to 6 treatments of all 3 then switch to Avastin and keytruda for 2 years. They sound Way more optimistic now. Pemetrexed is an Antifolate. It blocks folic acid (vitamin b9). Folic acid is required for DNA and RNA production. Both are needed by normal and cancerous cells. Because cancerous cells metabolize faster they take up more and hopefully die. Unfortunately like all chemotherapies it's not without some serious side effects. Because of these some are administered steroids around the time of injection. Oral Folic acid needs to be taken daily. And a vitamin B12 shot needs to be given every 3 weeks even if your B12 levels are normal. This needs to be by injection and not orally. B12 is not produced in plants and comes from eating animal meat. It's why I'll never be a vegan. B12 deficiency can lead to neuropathy and permanent brain deficiencies. My brain was deficienct before cancer definitely don't need more. Now Keytruda is an immunotherapy. There are many forms of immunotherapy. A vaccine is a form of immunotherapy as is that Claritin . Keytruda is specifically a Checkpoint inhibitor. It's an antibody that binds to PD-1. The protein program cell death 1 is an off switch found on T and B cells. It stops the immune system from attacking healthy cells. It also unfortunately protects some cancers. PD-L1 and PD-L2 found on cancer cells bind to the PD-1 site of the t and b cells without signalling the down regulation. This blocks both PD-L1 and PD-L2 on cells from turning off the cells. Like putting a piece of tape over a light switch to keep it from being turned off. It's not a vaccine. It does not teach your immune system how to fight the cancer. It does not strengthen your immune system. Your immune system needs to be able to see and fight the cancer or keytruda is not going to work. If you take the rape off the light switch, it's going to turn on or off until someone flips the switch. Supposedly keytruda can work miracles. I now it did so for Jimmy Carter. I don't want to die but the statistics are extremely dismal . No one is supposed to survive a skin metastasis from lung cancer. Here is my skin met on September 8th. it started was smaller looked like a pimple. Now something is behind it. This is September 24th right before keytruda. A Miracle is Happening --> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Livin Life Posted June 22 Share Posted June 22 Wow - amazing story, information and pics! You truly are a walking miracle and I know you already realize that. Thanks for all you do to help support and inform others.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen_L Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 @edivebuddy Those pictures are really gross. But also so interesting. I am always amazed when I hear of the places lung cancer decides to go. I also love that you had a peregrine falcon visit. That is truly special. Thank you for sharing your story! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edivebuddy Posted June 30 Author Share Posted June 30 When it popped up on my neck I was sure it was over. As were the doctors. The Peregrine falcon was a sign to this lapsed Catholic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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